The NOVA National School of Public Health (NOVA NSPH) was awardes in Brazil at the International Hospital Federation’s World Hospital Congress with the Best Poster Award. The Best Poster Award for Track 3: Clinical Models enhancing quality went to the LinkToLife Project, which includes five students from NOVA NSPH ‘s Hospital Administration Specialisation Course (CEAH). The Toward Greener Endoscopy Project also received an honourable mention in Track 5, Sustainability, an initiative that includes two people from NOVA NSPH.
Currently, when faced with a situation considered urgent/emergent, which results in the emergency medical services being called, the patient and/or their carer does not have access to information about the estimated time of arrival of the emergency services at the scene. This lack of knowledge can be a source of anxiety and stress for users and/or their carers, sometimes leading to repeated calls to 112 just to find out the location of the emergency services.
“The LinkToLife Project aims to develop a digital solution that improves the quality of communication in the response to urgent/emergent patients, guaranteed by emergency medical services”, explains Maurício Alves, lead author of the poster and student at NOVA NSPH ‘s CEAH programme. “This recognition means a lot to our team and truly reflects our commitment to improving communication and reducing anxiety in emergency medical situations through our project. We believe that this award will be an impetus for LinkToLife to become real”, he adds.
In addition to Maurício Alves, the team is made up of Dalila Assunção, Edgar Freitas, Marta Dias Blanco (who received the award on behalf of the team), and Sónia Lima, all CEAH students. The team also includes Filipa Barros, a doctor from the National Institute of Medical Emergency. The LinkToLife Project also has the support and mentoring of Teresa Magalhães, professor at NOVA NSPH and CEAH coordinator.
“These distinctions make us very honoured and reinforce the pride we have in our students. The choice of two projects at the World Hospital Congress, a meeting where work from all over the world is presented in the highest category, is very relevant and reinforces the confidence we have in the path that NOVA NSPH is following with our teachers, researchers and students, investing in innovative teaching that encourages the search for differentiating responses to the challenges facing the health system”, emphasises the director of NOVA NSPH, Sónia Dias.
The Toward Greener Endoscopy: Impact of a Sustainability Intervention on the Carbon Footprint and Processing Expenses of the Endoscopic Waste project aims to reduce the ecological footprint of endoscopy, which is considered the 3rd largest generator of biological waste due to the use of single-use materials, the high number of procedures and inadequate waste management. The prospective study compares the carbon footprint, waste processing costs and total endoscopic waste produced before and after an intervention carried out in the Gastroenterology Techniques unit at Santa Maria Hospital, part of the Santa Maria ULS. The intervention consisted of an awareness-raising campaign aimed at mitigating possible errors associated with incorrect waste segregation and promoting recycling. The authors of the study are Marta Dias Blanco and Sílvia Lopes, from NOVA NSPH, and Susana Martins and João A. Cunha Neves.
The Congress is organised by the International Hospital Federation (IHF) in collaboration with the Brazilian Hospital Federation (FBH), bringing together hospital leaders and health service managers to connect around global learning. The event is considered a unique global forum that connects leaders and decision-makers from hospitals, health services and healthcare organisations with the aim of sharing knowledge, best practices in leadership, management and service delivery, as well as exchanging new ideas and innovations with the whole world.